Military Order of Merit (Spain)

Military Order of Merit (Spain)

The Military Merit Order ( Spanish Orden del Mérito Militar ) was founded on August 3, 1864 by Queen Isabella II of Spain and is intended to honor officers who have distinguished themselves in the Spanish Army through special merits. The order was to partly replace the military order of St. Ferdinand , the order of Charles III. and the Order of Isabelle the Catholic enter if the person to be honored has already received one of these medals for military service.

Order classes

First class, distintivo blanco, the lowest level, executed in 1868.

Cruz with the highest level distintivo rojo, in the version 1941 with Russia clasp 1943.

Originally donated in four classes:

• 1st class for cadets, lieutenants and captains,
• II. Class for staff officers,
• III. Class for brigade commanders, lieutenant generals and captains general,
• IV. Class, also called Grand Cross , is reserved for officers who already have the III. Hold class.

The order is now only awarded in two classes (Grand Cross and Cross) and in four levels (red, white, blue and yellow).

Order decoration

The medal is an enamelled cross with a gold border. The cross is in red enamel for awards for merit in war , otherwise in white for merits in times of peace. In the middle is a round medallion with gold rims , which shows the royal Spanish coat of arms on the obverse and the initials of the founder (Isabella Regina) on the lapel . Above the cross lies the golden royal crown on a golden rectangle that is attached to the upper arm of the cross. The award date and merit are inserted in this square. This described form is intended for the first class. For the second grade, the cross is placed on a silver star with eight brilliant rays. In addition, a golden lily is attached to each cross corner. The III. Class has a bigger star and the rays are golden. The Grand Cross bearers wore the 1st class cross on the sash and the III. Class, where the rectangle under the crown is in silver. I R

Grand Cross - Red Awarded	Grand Cross - Awarded Blue	Grand Cross - Yellow Awarded	Grand Cross - White Awarded
Cross - Awarded Red	Cross-blue decoration	Cross - yellow decoration	Cross - Awarded White

Carrying method

The ribbon is for red enameled crosses in red with a wide white stripe in the middle of the ribbon. The white enameled cross has a white band with a red central stripe (color change). The decoration is worn on the ribbon on the left breast. Exceptions are the Grand Cruisers who wear the medal as a sash over the right shoulder to the left hip.

literature

• Maximilian Gritzner : Handbook of the knight and merit orders of all civilized states in the world. Leipzig 1893, ISBN 3-8262-0705-X .
• Paul Ohm Hieronymussen: Handbook of European orders in colors. Universitas Verlag, Berlin 1966, pp. 185–186
• Arnhard Graf Klenau: European Order from 1700. Rosenheim 1978, ISBN 3-921566-05-3 , p. 182

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Spanish War Awards, Part II. In: Uniforms market . Born 1939, issue 12, p. 187.